


(Being Bad) Feels Pretty Good

by Jain



Category: Nobuta wo Produce
Genre: Chromatic Source, Community: femslash10, F/F, First Time, POV Third Person, Past Tense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-02
Updated: 2010-09-02
Packaged: 2017-10-11 10:25:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/111389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jain/pseuds/Jain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bando takes advantage of Shuuji's and Akira's departures.</p>
            </blockquote>





	(Being Bad) Feels Pretty Good

**Author's Note:**

  * For [overthetiber](https://archiveofourown.org/users/overthetiber/gifts).



When Kiritani Shuuji left school midway through their final year, Bando rolled her eyes a little at the fuss everyone made over it, but otherwise didn't pay much attention. Students transferred to different schools occasionally; no big deal. It wasn't until the day _after_ Shuuji left that things got interesting.

Yokoyama called attendance, leaving off Shuuji's name as expected. Unexpectedly, he didn't call Kusano's name, either, but skipped straight to Kotani. She whispered her response as usual, and Bando dropped the lock of hair she'd been twirling around her finger and scanned the room. The other students--those that weren't daydreaming, that was--seemed just as puzzled by Kusano's omission as she was. Only Kotani seemed unsurprised, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. Kotani rarely showed emotion; Bando had seen her twitch her mouth in a stupid half-smile a couple of times, had seen her lip tremble with incipient tears once, but nothing more than that.

Attendance over, Yokoyama said, "As I'm sure you've noticed, Kusano-kun is no longer with us. He has withdrawn on short notice and transferred to another school. He'll be missed."

Bando snorted. Kusano talked to everyone, but the only ones who actually talked _back_ were Kotani and Shuuji. Maybe Kotani would miss him; no one else would.

She bit her lip thoughtfully, and then had to dig out her lipstick to fix the small imperfection caused by her teeth's imprint. Her eyes met Yokoyama's as she put the lipstick away afterwards, and he shook his head disapprovingly at her, but didn't say anything. Bando just smirked at him. If he wanted to punish her for fixing her makeup during class, then fine. But she wasn't about to let him shame her into being a good girl.

* * *

At lunchtime, Bando ditched her friends and went looking for Kotani in the weirdest, most out of the way places she could imagine: broom closets, the bike racks, the garbage area. She finally found her on the roof, which was almost halfway normal.

"Bando-san," Kotani said, her eyes widening.

Bando sauntered over to her. "Don't worry, I'm not going to beat you up," she said. Not yet, anyway.

Kotani stared at her silently.

"Did you know Kusano had left school?"

Kotani hesitated, then nodded.

"Was he your boyfriend or something?"

Kotani shook her head--no hesitation this time--and stammered, "I don't have a boyfriend."

"A girlfriend, then?" Bando asked, just to see her blush.

Kotani didn't blush; she shook her head again. "No. Why are you asking me these things?"

"I'm only wondering why all of your friends keep disappearing. First Aoi, then Shuuji, and now Kusano. It's almost as though you were cursed or something."

Kotani drew in a sharp, little breath. Bando's own breath quickened as she watched her, waiting for the rest of Kotani's reaction.

"Kotani-san," someone said suddenly from behind Bando.

Bando whirled around. Uehara Mariko was standing by the stairs, a couple of lunchboxes in hand. "I brought you lunch, if you'd like," she continued, coolly ignoring Bando.

"Y-yes," Kotani said. She edged around Bando carefully; when she reached the stairs, Mariko took her hand in hers and gave Bando a level stare before drawing Kotani away.

"Where were you?" Murata asked when Bando returned to the classroom.

"Nowhere," Bando snapped. She didn't look at Kotani's empty desk, didn't think about Kotani eating the lunch Mariko had prepared for her, which might be delicious or might be disgusting--the school hadn't yet come to a consensus on that point--but of which Kotani was no doubt eating every last bite.

* * *

By the next day, Bando had decided that Mariko's interference didn't matter. It was _annoying_; Kotani was much too strange and timid to keep drawing friends to her the way she did, one constantly stepping in to take the place of another who had left. But it wouldn't be a real problem. Mariko could only protect Kotani half an hour of every school day. The rest of the time, she was Bando's.

During gym class, Bando left her friends to jog behind Kotani as the class ran their laps. Saito tried to join them, but Bando glared at her until she fell back.

Kotani's shoulders hunched more and more with each lap; Bando could practically feel her wanting to dash away like a scared rabbit, but knowing that there was nowhere for her to go.

On the twelfth lap, Kotani stumbled and fell onto her hands and knees.

Bando pulled up short to keep from stepping on her. "Clumsy!" she said. "Watch where you're going."

Kotani nodded and got her feet on the ground. Bando grabbed one thin wrist and pulled her up the rest of the way, pressing her fingers into Kotani's skin with bruising force.

"Careful, or you'll get hurt," she added, then shoved Kotani into motion again.

* * *

Bando thought that she'd have to search for Kotani again during lunch, with the possibility of failure if Mariko had found her first. Instead, Kotani came to her.

"Where's your new friend?" Bando asked mockingly.

Kotani stared at the patch of roof she was standing on. "She's waiting for me."

Bando smiled to herself and walked closer, until she was directly in front of Kotani. "So, what are you doing here with me?"

"I wanted to ask you," Kotani said, then faltered. Bando stepped even closer, until she could practically feel Kotani breathing. Kotani continued with obvious effort, "I wanted to ask you why you're doing this."

Bando almost asked _Doing what?_, but there wasn't any point. Kotani was scared enough. "I don't want anyone hurting you but me," she said to her. She leaned forward to kiss Kotani's soft mouth, then bit it sharply, then kissed her again to take away the sting.

She was ready to grab Kotani if she tried to run, to threaten her into silence, but there wasn't any need. Kotani blinked at her and then gave her a jerky nod. "All right," she said, and pressed her lips to Bando's for another soft, sharp, soft kiss.


End file.
